UAVs are presently used for a variety of purposes, including military and commercial applications, as well as for recreation by hobbyists. Commercial UAVs can be used in the realm of public safety, including surveillance of dangerous areas by law enforcement and fire departments, as well as transport of goods, and other applications. The wide variety of applications outside the military sphere will result in growing civilian and government fleets that will create substantial privacy, safety, security and regulatory hurdles that must be overcome before UAVs can be integrated successfully and safely within our current systems. Privacy is the most cited public concern regarding UAVs. The ability of UAS vehicles' to “loiter” for long periods of time, and thus draw in significantly more information, potentially posing a more serious threat to privacy than do manned flights. Safety concerns include potential air collisions, ground collisions and overall system reliability. UAVs have been increasingly in the news with events ranging from a small UAV crashing at the U.S. Open grounds to more severe cases of firefighters being stalled because of UAVs in the area of a fire. The Federal Aviation Administration has also reported a drastic increase in UAV sightings by pilots. Security issues include hackers taking over control of the UAV, and the potential for terrorists to use UAVs as flying missiles or to carry dangerous payloads. Non-military UAVs are vulnerable to a range of cyber-attacks because they typically rely on unencrypted data links for command, control and navigation. Hackers have the capability to jam, intercept and manipulate the UAVs' controls.
The FAA has mandated the registration of all UAVs weighing over half a pound. Anyone who owns a small unmanned aircraft that weighs more than 0.55 lbs. (250 g) and less than 55 lbs. (25 kg) must register with the Federal Aviation Administration's UAS registry before they fly outdoors. People who do not register could face civil and criminal penalties. Registration requires the name and address of the UAV owner, as well as the manufacturer and model number. Although no current federal rules explicitly govern when a UAV is trespassing or violating privacy, the Federal Aviation Administration has created regulations aimed at limiting their use in public places and around large crowds. In addition to registration, the rules include requirements that the aircraft is kept within sight of the pilot, and bans flying them near stadiums, large crowds and airports. The FAA has also threatened fines for UAV pilots who endanger the flights of other aircraft or interfere in emergency areas like wildfires. One of the problems with the enforcement of current and future regulations is that there is no current system for identifying UAVs and their owners when the UAV is in flight.
There is a need to be able to identify the owners of UAVs that are violating FAA regulations or acting suspiciously such as hovering over large crowds in public events or flying towards a no fly zone without prior notice and to possibly take down the UAV or command it to land or fly back to its base or point of origin.